(HOUSTON) - A fire destroyed a garage and spread to a wooded area Monday afternoon in far northwestern Jackson County.

"We don't know what caused it," Pershing Township Fire Chief Rick Blaker Sr. said of the fire at a property at 11399 N. 650W. The property is owned by Tom McKinney.

The garage was destroyed, along with a camper and a couple of vehicles, Blaker said.
At the time, Jackson County was under an increased threat for hazardous burning conditions, the National Weather Service warned.

Steady, westerly winds accompanying a dry cold front were expected to increase the possibility of wildfires, the weather service said. Wooded and sheltered areas would pose the greatest risk.

Area residents were encouraged to use extra caution if doing any open burning.
Smoke from the fire, reported to the sheriff's department at 12:50 p.m. Monday, could be seen from as far away as the east side of Cortland.

Blaker said firefighters were able to knock the fire down quickly but did call for manpower and tanker trucks because of the location's remoteness.

"The fire made it into the woods and burned about an acre and a half," Blaker said.
Firefighters as well as tankers or engines from several departments, including Carr, Hamilton and Owen as well as Nashville in Brown County and the U.S. Forest Service responded to the scene.

County Officer Rob Henley also was at the scene as well as a Jackson County Emergency Medical Service's ambulance, although no injuries were reported.

The last Pershing Township trucks left the scene around 3:30 p.m.

Blaker said Monday was a busy day for the department because they had just returned from assisting firefighters in Brown County with a fire in a ditch along Hamilton Creek Road in that county when the call came in about the McKinney fire.